We messed up: an apology to the ‘7 legless’ students

On Wednesday 19th October, we published a story about seven students dressed up as a roller coaster ride under the headline “Exclusive: Pub crawl team dress up as Alton Towers Smiler ride amputees”.

The story was published following the seven legged bar crawl in Nottingham on Monday 17th October. In the story, we wrongly claimed the seven students’ outfits were intended to make light of the Alton Towers Smiler accident, which left five people seriously injured.

Following publication, the students photographed and the University of Nottingham Students’ Union have told us very clearly that the students had never referred to the Smiler ride, that they were simply dressed as a rollercoaster and that their team name “7 Legless” referred to the fact they were drunk and on the seven legged bar crawl, not because they were imitating amputees.

While the students have apologised “for any offence or distress they may have unwittingly caused,” we now accept that they did not intend to deliberately cause offence and that they made no reference the Alton Towers accident at any time. We are happy to clarify this.

This was an honest mistake which we regret, and we apologise to the students involved, and to the victims of the Smiler crash.

As well as this apology, The Tab will be making a donation to Karni. The Tab Nottingham is run for students, by students and we care about our relationship with the university community. If you ever have any concerns, you can contact us via our Facebook page.